Letters to all MPs but only one reply

I wrote to all or nearly all MPs but got one reply. Thanks for that solitary reply. It appears that all the MPs are the same - they were scared stiff of the issues and problems I brought up so they would rather say nothing. In this solitary reply I received, let us see if the issues I have brought up got the light of any enlightened deliberation for future solutions.

You said at the onset you could not answer to my first two issues namely ministerial salary and whether minister for law's reply to the public concern about misuse of Land Acquisition Act where lands in Geylang were acquired supposedly for public use which was left vacant and unused for any public purpose for years.

The first issue you replied on was merely a regurgitation of government position on its acquiring lands paying only a fraction of market value thereby depriving citizens of their property right without any rationale. The fact that there could be such a law at all in an civilized so-called first-world country like this little red dot and were contented with such deprivations of citizens' birth rights clearly proved that our MPs are not working hard enough to correct existing injustices of such nature. Of course you may still say now the government has realized its mistake after Hock Kee case or Geylang case and have recently after a letter of mine and others pointing out such injustices that the compensation for acquired lands was amened in April 2007 to market value. For your information, I happened to be acquainted with one pending acquisition and asked the SLA whether the subject land acquired would be compensated at full market value and the answer given was the government panel of values would decide without revealing the basis of such valuation. In the case of collecting development charge the government valuers have compiled the market valuations to be used to collect any appreciated values but in the case of land acquisition the government valuers would rather keep the list to themselves only to be used in countering any affected land owners' own claims for compensation. What kind of market valuation is that or is it a case of double standard in that in asking developers to pay development charge it would push the market values to the highest possible but in acquiring lands such transparency is from a hidden secretive list maintained by government valuers as I have mentioned. I would leave it to our MPs like yourself with experiences in handling such cases to tell us citizens whether this is being transparent or fair or just and whether as MP you are interested or passionate enough air problems or issues on our behalf.

On another issue concerning the claim of government that the sale of HDB low-cost housing at a small discount off market price for similar flats in the market place was indeed a subsidy, it is indeed a sad day when our MP like yourself has also taken the establishment's view that it is indeed a market subsidy and not the actual cost subsidy. Is this kind of subsidy to be correctly claimed as subsidy ? That is the issue posed. Why repeat the government's position on an issue if you are a MP who is supposed to represent like some sort of counsel for the people in bringing up issues and problems. If you are merely existing to represent establishment we have better people to do that - the ministers. We need MPs to function differently from ministers in that if people suffer from any problems MPs are to understand the problems in-depth and not merely to use their position to explain government point of view which in the little red dot today has become some kind of joke.

I hope you and all MPs would change your position to be more pro-country and pro-people and not taken the view that you exist through GRC to represent the collective view of the cabinet or government which clearly is now the case.

May I have your permission to publish your reply in the internet since the Straits Times routinely does not do so?

Thanks and regard.

Robert Teh Kok Hua
(A passionate citizen interested in the welfare of people)

Should LKY be answerable to billions of losses of people's monies by GIC?

It is not that people don't understand decision making process in a big organization as some have put it.

What we the people are finding it difficult to accept is the constant harping of their talents and abilities by the leaders who are actually only lucky people given the opportunity to be leaders so they should learn how to accept responsibilities for poor performance and criticisms for mistakes.

If as leaders they still cannot accept responsibilities for mistakes or losses then in the first place they do not have qualities of leaders, period.

Proceeding from the above-stated basis, have our leaders like MM Lee plainly accepted the first principle of government or leadership - accepting responsibilities for poor performance whether in specific examples of loss like in Shin Corp all these years?

If GIC is an entirely private company like Worldcom or Enron, we the people can accept what some have said that investment is a long term and not a simple or easy process and people must take the good decisions with the bad ones and judge them for overall performance.

GIC is an public organization set up to safeguard the collective assets and surpluses of Singaporeans and its monies are people's hard-earned monies. All on board of GIC are trustees of public fund. As trustees of public fund if they want to invest in Shin Corp or UBS (in a crisis situation) Bangalore or Russsia Township they as trustees must get the mandate of the people. Have they done so?

If LKY is to set up GIC correctly with accountability in the first place there may be no problem in doing what he has been doing.

Be it as it may with some luck he has made some gains in the past despite refusing to be accountable for this type of high-risk investments. He has however through use of power refused to grant ex-president Ong Teng Cheong request to provide him as custodian elected president to make GIC and government accountable to some investments and that was a major error or judgmental blunder on his part.

As a lawyer himself he should know fully well that public monies like those belonging to MCST's or NKF can only legally be invested under the current general laws in trust funds consisting mainly of fixed deposits in banks or certain instruments not like what he is doing with public monies in the GIC.

So there are two sets of laws here - one for himself and his GIC and one for the MCST or NKF monies belonging to the public. Is his action as a leader legally right or morally correct?

Having seen the way he has been conducting the affairs of government vis-a-vis investments of people monies it will be clear that he still does not want to be or keeps stubbornly giving excuses to avoid being accountable to the people despite many years of people's unhappiness in this respect as published in the media and in the internet.

The main issue now is whether the further billions of losses by GIC in such continuing rash investments in risky shares and stocks overseas is caused by LKY by his own authoritarian and unaccountable use of power. Is he or GIC being accountable ?

If GIC sets up proper prescribed rules and regulations and laws to safeguard people hard-earned monies (not LKY's certainly) with accountability open to independent panel of acceptable standing representing the president or people, we can then listen to the whys and wherefors of professionalism of investments and other aspects like the actual organizational decisions.

Let the issue be understood in greater perspective and not be sidetracked by hypocrisy again and again by LKY in the same way he has denied the ex-president Ong and the citizens as a whole from many objective feedbacks on this issue. (not just the internet forumers).

Man and His Honor

The House of Commons suits me fine,
For I will always be with my own kind,
If ever I run out of salt or rice,
I will have no need to cry,
For I still have my honor,
If a man live without honor,
He is as good as a dead dog,
Let evil men be filled of craft
For me I trade not in such art.

How to govern corruptly legally yet look good?

Corruption is bad, this is what our leaders tell the animals in the Farm.

Welfare is bad.
Corruption is bad,
Meritocracy is good,
Rule of law is good,
Talent is good,
We must reward talent,

How do you stop the government to promote his own cronies into position of power to serve him and his own interest?

This is called grey areas, administrative or discretionary power in our law books.

A government can simply play Jekyl and hyke by putting up laws and regulations which on the face is just but actually are full of loopholes with interpretations subjected to its own internal control to serve own hidden agendas e.g. to tinker with election process to prevent others from standing for election and keep itself in power.

In the Westminster system of democracy, we the citizens are supposed to have the right to stand for election or elect others as our MPs and let them have the unimpeded right to question any wrong doings or policies in parliament.

Is this system of open and accountable governing process being followed?

Given the large discretionary or administrative power given the the ruling party's secretary general to govern with appointments of all senior positions from Ministers to chief justice and senior civil servants each paid the handsome million-dollar salaries who will try to rock the boat and disagree with the chieftain?

So Westminster has actually provided a platform in the hand of a determined autocrat to govern by sheer dictatorship due to the large areas of discretionary power granted to the position of PM who could exercise large discretionary power over appointments of Ministers, MPs etc resulting in one-man-show which finally leads to cronyism and malpractices and abuse of power.

The above-stated power granted to the PM in the Westminster system will end up finally benefiting the ruling party, its elites and not the ordinary people.

We the citizens are suffering from all sorts of tweaking of laws and playing with the laws and are having to face with all the hypocrisy and denials of problems because of such grey areas.

So there is an urgent need to check on the large areas of administrative power e.g. appointing judges, creating positions or promotions to run any departments for their own favored cronies.

A crooked government will simply know how to go its its own parliament to pass any laws it wishes to suppress its people with legal means creating another form of tyranny to suppress its people.

To a crooked government which intends to use laws to control its population any reasons will be good enough as there are many excuses one can give to pass any laws if a PM under the Westminster is determined enough to get its own way.

Even defamation laws or internal security laws intended to be used to apprehend the violent criminals can be turned into powerful instrument to be used against ordinary people who criticise the government.

The large discretionary or administrative power to PM to appoint his own connetions or cronies to power is simply not right or proper.

It is time for people to change such system and put a check on loopholes within the grey areas in all our laws the constitutions and civil and criminal laws and procedures to stop crooks to govern the country for their own purposes and agendas.

How do we the citizens stop such a governing system from being corrupted by power and use legal method to reward themselves and even enjoy business dealings with companies which trade with the government's power that be is another major issue to be looked into.

How do we stop a government under such a system using its large administrative power to fix or sue its critics and opposition with defamation law suits under its own controlled courts for remarks or criticisms uttered honestly in the course of electioneering is yet another major concern of citizens.

So if we the citizens do not want any more tweaking of the laws such as the constant redrawing of election boundaries or the banning of voting of MPs in single-ward constituencies or any more repeat of disastrous losses in Shin Corp or immorality in NKF let us voice out our concerns with fear or favor and start asking for change in a serious manner with safeguard to stop the rot.

If we do not want to have Enrons Worldcom, CAO abuses let us put in the efforts to clean up the present system'

Your future is in your own hand. Let us decide to stop the following malpractices currently being carried on in our parliament which do not benefit us the citizens:-

(1) Passing of any laws the leaders like through its controlled parliament
(2) Setting up of many crony posts or positions to reward its own loyal yes-men.
(3) Setting up of too many committees and unnecessary posts like SM, MM, Parliamentary secretaries and majors etc.
(4) Give them monies and power to act like proxies,
(5) Having all kinds of CEOs to front for bill collectors type of occupations.
(6) Putting up too many excuses to change laws and deny responsibility.
(7) Launching too many grandiose projects to spend monies
(8) Profiteering from land and infrastructures already owned by citizens.

If we do not want to see the above-mentioned malpractices happen in front of our very eyes in our own circus parliament it is up to citizens to spread this message to all to ask for change in our governing system to prevent anyone or future government from governing corruptly through legal wrangling of laws and administrative power through our present system.

A new way to peace in this world

For thousands of years mankind has been at wars.

After the first and yet another the second world war, mankind should have learned the truth about wars, that is there is no victor.

Whether a war is fought on the ground of national or economic security, greed or ambition, or plain hegemony on one race over another the second world war conclusively proved one truth - the world is for us all the live in peace and not be engaged in self-interest or domination or greed.

With the release of the first atomic bomb on Nagasaki and Hiroshima, hundreds of thousands of innocent people were killed. Conversely hundreds of thousands were similarly killed on both sides of disputants.

But men are obsessed today as ever as seen in the latest rounds of conflicts between the Palestinians and Israelis. Where is more superior in terms of race, cultures or religions?

If God's teaching is something to go by, obviously God has taught men to treat their fellow men as brothers and not to kill one another or conquer anyone for religious or any other reason.

There has to be fuller understanding of God's teaching in order to understand God's will to men and finally understand it is against God's teaching to kill or be at war.

Furthermore it is futile to engage in wars as finally there is no victor as seen in the second world war.

The Japanese people and their leaders are still far from remorseful about their own wars. They try to justify their last war as a war of self-defence.

Now earth warming, ecological pollution and depletion of oil and other natural resources are further bad news and without war mankind has not much good years ahead to live for.

So now let us examine what god or gods want of us in this earthly life of ours. Did god or gods really ask people to fight it out and engage in conquering others or our neighbours?

One would have thought from reading of bible or koran that God says "Love thy neighbours" even if god at the same time has said other things like "Do not sin".

Do denizens of the world have a higher or more noble reason to disagree with such basic wisdom let them tell us that god was wrong about the first advice.

If they treasure and trust their own almighty whoever he might be, surely they will be more patient with their neighbours even if they don't love them.

Let us all declare as "Peace Day" the anniversary of second world war and tell the Israelis and Palestinians on this day there is no purpose to fight on but there is god's purpose to live in love and not hatred.

Prose of No Hope (In reply to President's Poem on Hope)

On and on leaders on the little red dot,

Carry on wrangling with laws and regulations,

Years and years of tweaking of voting process,

Of bending democratic rules of accountability,

Without thought of people's suffering and want,

Double charge on lands, assets, recovering all costs,

GLCs usurping citizens' assets into monopoly schemes,

Direct and indirect taxes unspent and assumulated

To be spent on extravagant golden taps and own salaries,

Idle taxes grow surpluses by billions not enough,

Losses on Shin Corp not disclosed or explained,

On national day Citizens brace for another shock,

Pay and pay without services or accountability

Another and another excuse yet cooked up,

This time citizens contrite to live longer lives,

Citizens deemed careless with their own monies

Not failure in governing CPF schemes or economy,

For fear citizens might squander own retirement funds,

Had better leave their funds at 55 to better hand.

With a bit of tweaking like interest top-up,

Leaders would take their fund to form a pool

To pay out small annuities to whoever live longest lives,

The red dot leaders say annuities would look after all,

But they did not say by their own billion surpluses

Or not by surpluses from hidden profits gained,

But by little monies left of citizens who live shorter lives,

Who had to postpone draw of retirement kitties

From 55 to 85 to pay for citizens living longer lives,

The elected MPs each gives a great speech,

And even sultry poetry for good to sing praises,

Of goodness to receive collective annuities,

In spirit and truth this is the story,

Of how the little red dot is governed,

By greed, scheming and legalistic puppetry.

Political Proverbs

Here is a compilation of useful political proverbs for general information:-

An oppressive government is more to be feared than a tiger.

Better be a free bird than a captive king.

Better free in a foreign land than a slave at home.

Courage in war is safer than cowardice.

Cursed is he who doth his office craftily, corruptly or maliciously.

Divide and rule.

Even war is better than a wretched peace.

Every man for himself.

Every man is master in his own house.

Fight fire with fire.

Forewarned is forearmed.

From prudence peace from peace abundance.

Give me liberty or give me death.

Good fences make good neighbours.

Good kings never make war but for the sake of peace.

He that is hated by his subjects cannot be king.

He that makes himself a sheep shall be eaten by the wolf.

He who demands does not command.

Little is done when many command.

Might is right.

No government can be long secure without a formidable opposition.

Old politicians chew on wisdom past.

One man with courage makes the majority.

One peace is better than ten victories.

Oppression causes rebellion.

Peace flourishes when reason rules.

Power goes before talent.

Power tends to corrupt, and absolute power corrupts absolutely.

Reform that you may prosper.

The ballot is stronger than the bullet.

The best government is that which governs least.

The cause finds arms.

The fear of war is worse than war itself.

The first duty of a soldier is obedience.

The hearts of people are the only legitimate foundations of empire.

The mob has many heads but no brains.

The office shows the man.

The race is not to the shift nor the battle to the strong.

The right divine to govern wrong.

The subjects' love is the king's best guard.

The tree of liberty grows only when watered by the blood of tyrants.

The unbought loyalty of men is the cheap defence of nations.

The voice of the people is the voice of God.

There is no little enemy.

There is no worse heresy than that the office sanctifies the holder.

They that govern most make least noise.

To grow proud in office is the nature of man.

Tyranny is far the worse treason.

United we stand, divided we fall.

War makes robbers, and peace hangs them.

When what you have is a hammer, everything looks like a nail.

When power puts in its plea, the laws are silent.

When the cause is just, the small conquers the great.

Who fills the office must learn to bear reproach and blames.

Who loves peace serves God.

Who obtains an office surreptitiously will administer it like a fox.

Who shall keep the keepers ?